Reputation
by fall into your sunlight
Summary: Everyone's heard the saying: "sticks and stones will break my bones but words will never hurt me". Unfortunately for James Diamond that statement wasn't entirely true.
1. Part I: Starting Over

**Title: Reputation**

**Summary: Everyone's heard the saying: sticks and stones will break my bones but words will never hurt me. Unfortunately for James Diamond that statement wasn't entirely true. But when he gets the chance to start over, will it prove to be everything he really wanted?**

**A/N: ok so I would've put this in my _Every Moment _story, but it's going to be like three chapters long so I wanted it to stand alone. Also, the plot of this story was inspired by the movie Bandslam, but I tweaked it. If you've seen the movie then you probably have an idea about what's going to happen with this story; if not then sit back, relax, and read(: also, the story takes place in Minnesota, before they were famous, and the boys are about fourteen.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own BTR or Bandslam**

* * *

**Part I: Starting Over**

Shinedown had said it best when they said, "Sometimes goodbye is a second chance". Nobody believed in those words more than James did right now. He had finally gotten the chance to say goodbye to his life in California, and he was able to look forward to a new life in Minnesota. Why his mom had picked this place to live boggled his mind but he was still ecstatic about it.

Except for one thing: the cold. And the snow. And the ice that caused him to slip and fall while holding a box of clothes.

"You ok?" a voice asked. James, who was laying on his back at the time, craned his neck to the side so he could see a blonde boy walking over to him.

"Kinda stuck." James said. The box was resting on his abs and the fall had taken most of his energy, which is why he was still laying on the icy ground.

The blonde chuckled and lifted the box off of him. James let out a breath and stood up.

"Thanks man."

The blonde put the box down at James's feet and extended his arm. "I'm Kendall Knight, your new next door neighbor."

James shook is hand. "James Diamond."

"Welcome to the hood." Kendall smirked, but it faltered slightly for a second. "Wait, Diamond?"

James licked his lips nervously but tried to play it off. "Yup. Why?"

"Sorry to ask but are you, like, related to Brian Diamond?" Kendall asked.

James felt his heart drop. "Who?" he asked, trying to come off as confused.

Kendall shook his head. "Nobody important. I just heard my friend's dad talking about him the other day. He's a police officer."

James raised an eyebrow. "Your friend?"

"No his dad." Kendall chuckled.

James laughed at his own stupidity. "Oh."

There was a small silence between the two of them, only to be broken by a guy walking out of James's new house. He had the shaggy hair and he wore a leather jacket.

"Hey kid." he smacked James on his back affectionately. "Who's this?" he pointed to Kendall.

"Bud, this is Kendall. Kendall, this is my uncle Bud."

Kendall shook Bud's hand with a smile. "Nice to meet you."

"Likewise." Bud bent down so he was at the boy's level. "Listen here, Kendall. Any friend of James is a friend of mine. That means you need anything- a ride, a place to crash, some weed- I'm your guy." he clapped Kendall's shoulder with a smile and then turned back to go inside.

Kendall turned his head to James, an amused smirk on his face, and the taller boy couldn't help but to laugh.

"Ok, so he's not the best role model," James admitted. "But he's still good when he needs to be. And me and my mom need him around."

"Where's your dad?"

"Uh… he's not… around." James said slowly, as if trying to chose the correct words.

Kendall's features softened and he looked almost sad. "Oh. I'm sorry. Is he like…" Kendall trailed off, making a face to hope that James would get the hint that he didn't want to say the word 'dead'.

James's eyes widened. "Oh no. Him and my mom just separated. Let's just say that he has a thing for younger women." he added bitterly at the end.

Kendall caught on quickly and James was thankful for that. "Sorry dude." he said.

James shrugged. "What can you do?"

"Well my mom's a single mom too. My dad died when my sister Katie was two, nearly six years ago."

"That's rough man."

Kendall mimicked James. "What can you do?" James smiled softly.

"So tell me, you any hockey?" Kendall asked.

"A bit. Like I played roller hockey back in California, before I moved."

Kendall's eyes widened. "You moved from California? To Minnesota? Do you have a drug problem?"

James laughed. "No just with the split and everything, and Uncle Bud being here my mom just figured this was the play for us."

"Aah." Kendall nodded. "Well we have a killer hockey team and we're always looking for new members… interested?"

"I could be."

"Wanna come to the rink with me and my friends, to play around a bit? Just to see if your any good."

"Yeah sure. I probably gotta unpack some more but I'll be over in like an hour."

"Awesome." Kendall said and turned to go back to his house. James smiled and picked up the box on the ground. As soon as he walked inside he dropped it down on the floor and sat on top of it.

"You ok?" his mom asked, looking up from the dishes she was unpacking.

"Fine." James mumbled.

"Bud told me that boy said something about Brian."

James shrugged. "Word travels."

Ms. Diamond sighed. "Jamie, you know that your father-" James shot his mother a sharp look. "I mean Brian, was convicted guilty. You can't stay mad at him forever."

"As far as I'm concerned, I can be."

"Jamie-"

"Mom, for almost three years my life was a living hell because of him and it all could've been avoided. But it wasn't and I hate him for it."

"James, it's not his fault."

"Whatever mom, I don't wanna talk about this." James stood up. "I'm going to unpack some stuff and then I'm playing hockey with Kendall." he started upstairs to his bedroom, but stopped part of the way there when he heard Bud talking to his mom.

"You can't force him to talk about this Lillian."

"I'm not forcing him to talk about it; I'm forcing him to forgive his father for making a mistake."

"A mistake that fucked up his life big time."

"Liam-"

"I'm sorry that person does not exist."

James smiled slightly, knowing his mother was rolling her eyes. "Ok, fine _Bud_. I'm just saying, I don't want James to go and change his name like you did because his father messed up his life."

"Lil, our situations are totally different."

"Not entirely."

"Ok, whatever. And dad isn't the only reason I changed my name. Liam's a stupid name anyway."

"Like Bud is any better?"

James sighed and completed his journey upstairs. He entered his bedroom, unpacked most of his boxes, and then went next door to Kendall's house. When he got over there, there were two other boys with him. Both of them shorter than James by a couple of inches and they both had dark hair and eyes. The only difference was that one was Hispanic and wearing a helmet.

"James, this is Logan-" the pale boy raised his hand, waving shortly. "-and Carlos." the helmet-clad boy waved happily to James.

"Hey." James greeted them.

"Alright, let's play some hockey!" Carlos said, jumping up to his feet. James chuckled and the four boys walked down to the rink. Once there, they realized that James was in fact an amazing hockey player. He had speed and swiftness, and didn't let a single puck get by him. And he also got somewhat aggressive while playing, which Kendall approved of, but Logan feared.

"I'm not going to hurt you Logan." James said, smiling as the smaller boy flinched away every time James charged at him on the ice.

"You could never be too careful." Logan insisted, pulling his helmet off and running his fingers through his sweaty hair.

"Mitchell, what's going on?" a voice said. Logan made a face of anger and disgust and turned around.

"What are you talking about Jack?" he asked, his voice impatient.

The boy- Jack- skated over to Logan, towering over him, causing the boy to skate backwards a few paces. "I'm saying that we have practice and it's not 'let's-let-the-new-kid-skate-on-our-ice'." he said.

"It's not your ice." Carlos said skating over. "You didn't buy it."

"Yeah but as team captain-"

"Co-captain." Carlos and Logan corrected Jack, angering the boy immediately.

"Kendall's the other captain." Carlos said to James.

"Whatever." Jack rolled his eyes. "As I was saying, on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays the rink is ours." he skated up close to James, closing in on his 'personal space bubble' but James didn't flinch. He just held Jack's glare with one of his own. "So leave." he said, getting up in James's face.

James just raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything.

"Are you deaf?" Jack asked. "Team members on the ice only."

"Actually, he is a team member." Kendall said skating over to the group that had formed. Behind Jack was the rest of the team. Behind James was Logan and Carlos. Kendall skated next to James and shoved Jack backwards slightly. "Coach has seen him skate all afternoon and he offered him an immediate spot on the team." Kendall said, his voice smug and proud. He turned to James. "You're accepting, right?"

"Of course." James turned to smirk at Jack. "I would love to get to know Jackass better." a few members of the team snickered and Jack's eyes clouded with anger.

It was at that moment when Jack was determined to get rid of James.

* * *

After a few months of James being on the team, showing up Jack every chance he got, Jack's hatred grew more and more. But after an incident, when James had shown up to practice with a customized jersey that said JACKASS on the back, Jack had found the perfect way to get back at James.

The poor brunette didn't even see it coming. He was loving Minnesota and he was living happily with his mother and uncle. He was happy with his three best friends and his life in California was finally behind him.

Or so he thought.

"Hey Diamond." Jack said as James, Kendall, Carlos, and Logan walked inside the rink. Jack and his 'boys' were on the ice and Jack was holding something in his hands. "I just wanted to thank you so much for the interesting jersey you gave me last week."

James smirked. "Glad you liked it."

Jack didn't miss a beat, still smiling at James. "So I decided to get you this." Jack unfolded the jersey and turned it backwards to everyone could read the words on the back. James froze, his blood boiling and his heart pounding heavily in his chest.

Pedo-Bear.

Those two words that had haunted him for three years straight had returned in his life.

"Pedo-Bear?" Carlos asked, obviously confused. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"James knows." Jack said, throwing the jersey at James's chest. It fell to the ice and James still stood there, unmoving.

"Tell 'em Pedo." Jack continued. "Tell your bestie friends about your life in California and explain to them what your special nickname means."

"Shut up." James snapped, his eyes turning dark as he grew more angry. "Just shut the fuck up."

Kendall, Logan, and Carlos all looked at each other. In the months that they had known James, they had never seen him so angry before.

Jack just laughed and turned to his friends. "Look guys, he's just dying to touch me right now. You can see it in his eyes."

"I said SHUT UP!" James lunged at Jack, throwing a punch at him square in the face. When the boy's head was down, James grabbed his shoulders and shoved him to the ice, pinning him to the ice. Jack looked up at him and despite his bloody nose, he had a devious smirk on his face.

"Looks like you like being on top Pedo." he commented. "Like father, like son, right?"

James just lost it right there.

He started throwing punching left and right at Jack, determined to make him bleed so much that he lost all memory of what he just said. Kendall, Logan, and Carlos were pulling at James's back, trying to get him off of Jack. Finally, the coach ran over to the scene and he grabbed the collar of James's shirt, yanking him forcefully off of Jack.

"What the hell is wrong with you Diamond?" he demanded. James just stood there, breathing heavily before he tore away from the coach and ran into the locker room.

James was gasping for breath, his chest feeling tight as he locked himself inside one of the bathroom stalls. Leaning his back against the door, James slowly sank down to the floor, pulling his knees up to his chest and for the first time in three years, tears began to drip down his cheeks.

* * *

**A/N: ok, so here's chapter one. It's not as long as I hoped it to be but I think that I got my point across. Did you all like it? Feedback is GREATLY appreciated. I'm really into this story right now. I got the idea today at work and I just started typing up ideas on my cell phone until I got home and started working on it. And now it's done (because my ADD got in the way lol) :D so yeah, I'm gonna stop rambling and let you guys do the talking now :D**


	2. Part II: PedoBear

**Part II: Pedo-Bear**

"James, are you ok?" Logan asked when he, Kendall, and Carlos walked inside of the locker room.

"James isn't here." James said from inside his stall. His voice was husky as a result of holding in his sobs.

"Yeah you are." Carlos said. He was in the stall next to him, standing on the toilet inside of it and looking down at James.

"Leave me alone." James said.

"C'mon dude, tell us what's wrong." Kendall said.

"There's nothing wrong, just leave me alone!" James said and then sighed, running his fingers through his hair and burying his face in his hands.

Logan looked up at Carlos. "Prognosis?" he asked. Carlos stared at him for a few moments until Logan just rolled his eyes and said, "What's James doing in there?"

"Oh." Carlos peeked at him once more. "He's covering his face right now." he announced. "And earlier I think he was crying."

"I wasn't!" James snapped.

"James, what's the big deal about what Jackass called you anyway?" Kendall asked.

James sighed. "Kendall, do you even know what a Pedo-Bear is?"

"No." Kendall said and looked at Logan, who just shrugged.

"It sounds cute." Carlos commented.

"Pedo-Bears aren't cute." James said. "They're the worst thing ever."

"What's so bad about them?" Kendall asked.

"Just forget about it, I don't wanna talk about it." James said and stood up. He opened his stall and went to leave the locker room, but Logan and Kendall stopped him. "Let me go." James said, his eyes downcast but still carried an angry look in them.

"Where are you going?" Carlos asked, walking out of his stall and going over to stand next to James.

"I don't know, New Jersey? Wherever my mom decides to move us next." James replied.

Carlos's eyes widened slightly. "Why are you moving?"

"Because I can't stay here anymore! Not now, not anymore." James said and ran his fingers through his hair again.

"James, we're you're friends. Just talk to us." Logan said.

"You won't want to be my friends after I tell you." James said softly and went to push past Kendall and Logan once more. Kendall grabbed his shoulders and forced him back. "Kendall just let me go."

"No." Kendall said stubbornly.

"Kendall-"

"Just tell us James."

"Or at least answer my question." Carlos cut in. "What the hell's a Pedo-Bear?"

James let out a sigh of frustration. "Brian Diamond is a Pedo-Bear!" he cried, throwing his arms up in the air, causing Kendall to let go of his shoulders. The three other boys looked at each other, confused.

"What does Brian Diamond have to do with any of this?" Logan asked.

James bit his lip, feeling the tears stinging at his eyes again. Shaking his head 'no', he said "Forget about it." and ran out of the locker room before he could be stopped again.

Logan sighed. "Looks like we're heading to my domain." he said, cracking his knuckles. Kendall raised an eyebrow and looked at Carlos, who just shrugged, looking confused again.

"The li-bra-ry." Logan said slowly, enunciating the word 'library'.

"Ooooooh." Kendall and Carlos said together.

Logan rolled his eyes and grabbed Carlos and Kendall's arms, pulling them out of the locker room.

* * *

James kept on running. He didn't stop, despite his lungs practically screaming at him, begging him to stop and take a much needed breath. But James just pushed himself forward. He was thankful he memorized the way to get to his house from the hockey rink because his eyes were clouded with tears and he couldn't see so clearly. When he finally reached his house, he threw open the front door and slammed it shut, pressing his back against it, openly crying.

He realized that he was alone when nobody had come up to him, asking why he was so upset. Usually, he didn't like being alone but right now, he welcomed the idea.

His body shaking with sobs and he was getting a headache the more and more he sobbed. He didn't want this to happened. He wanted his second chance, he _deserved_ it. He didn't do anything to deserve to feel this way.

Moving his hands away from his tear-streaked face, he looked around his new house. His mom and Bud pretty much had everything set up and it looked nice… except for one thing.

The picture hanging on the wall above the couch. It was a picture of him, his mom, and his dad three years ago before everything had went downhill. James had no idea why his mom kept it; whenever he looked at it he was filled with an undeniable rage.

Still crying and breathing heavily, he walked over to the couch, climbing on top of it to grab the picture. He stared at it for a moment, letting his tears fall onto the glass covering the picture and then he realized his hands were trembling.

Letting out an angered cry he threw the picture as hard as he could. It broke against the opposite wall and hit the floor in a shattered mess.

Just like his heart was. **(A/N: sorry if that was incredibly cheesy :p)**

* * *

"C'mon, c'mon, c'mon." Logan muttered, restlessly tapping the table as he waited for his webpage to load. Along with Carlos and Kendall, he was at the local library researching Brian Diamond… or he would be if this computer didn't have a slower processor than his cell phone.

"Yes!" he hissed under his breath when the Google page loaded.

"Finally." Carlos sighed and leaned in close to the screen. He was on one side of Logan while Kendall was on the other.

"So what exactly are we looking for?" Kendall asked.

"Something about Brian Diamond so we can get some insight on what's wrong with James." Logan replied, waiting on the page he clicked on to load. When it finally did, Logan's eyes widened in shock.

"What's wrong Logie?" Carlos asked.

"_Brian Diamond Accused To The Rape of Mackenzie Ryan_." Logan read softly. Kendall's eyes went as wide as hockey pucks and Carlos's jaw dropped. Logan swallowed silently before reading softly.

"In the town of La Jolla in San Diego, California, Brian Diamond was accused of sexually abusing one of the girls on his soccer team.

"Mackenzie Ryan, age ten, claimed that her coach had brought her to his mini-van, placed her in the truck, and proceeded to treat her injured leg from practice. He left her moments later to call her mother, asking why she was late to practice and then a blindfold was tied around her head. The girl called for help but she was told to shut up and she was hit in the head. Ryan said 'it sounded exactly like coach Diamond's voice'. Moments later, she found herself laying down on the ground and her clothes had been removed. Her attacker proceed to rape her and after her blindfold was removed she saw Diamond standing above her."

"Jesus Christ." Kendall breathed.

"There's more." Logan whispered, and then went to read another article, entitled, "_Diamond Denies_."

"Diamond countered saying that the ordeal had never happened. From his account, Ryan had hurt her leg during practice and he brought her to his van to get a first aid kit to fix her up. Her mother was late picking her up and Diamond left to call her. He was gone for about forty-five minutes and when he returned to his van, Ryan was missing. He spent an hour looking for the girl before he found her laying in the foods- naked, bleeding, and crying. When he brought her back to the parking lot of the field, she ran to her mother and claimed that he had brought her to the woods and raped her. Ryan's mother called the police immediately."

Logan clicked on the next link related to the story.

"Talk about Diamond being accused of raping Mackenzie has yet to die down. The whole town is in an uproar about it. Many back Diamond up saying that he is an 'honest guy who would never hurt a fly' but others just claim that Diamond would say anything to get out of the court case brought on by the Ryan family. One person said, 'a ten-year-old knows better than to lie about being raped so her accusation must be true'. The court case of Diamond vs. Ryan will occur exactly one week from now."

Logan took a shaky breath and Kendall continued to stare awe-struck at the screen.

"You guys." Carlos breathed. "I figured out what James was talking about."

"What do you mean?" Kendall asked, tearing his eyes away from the screen to look at Carlos. The Latino boy read from his computer screen where he had his own web page up.

"Pedo-bear is an internet meme which became popular through the image board 4chan. As its name suggests- 'pedo' being short for 'pedophile'- it is a pedophile bear that is used to create humorous image macros about topics such as pedophiles, child pornography, or lolicon."

"But that still doesn't make sense why Jackass would call James a Pedo-bear." Kendall said, confused.

"Yeah it does." Logan said slowly looking at another article. "Look: _Diamond's Son Target of Bullying_."

"Read." Kendall instructed and he and Carlos looked at Logan's computer.

"Brian's life wasn't the only one being affected by the Diamond/Ryan case. His eleven-year-old son James has been the subject of bullying at his school ever since the accusation. Coming from Dr. Kay, the principal at James's school, 'everyday James is being tormented by the children in his grade and no amount of punishment seems to stop them. It isn't always physical abuse- most of it's verbal. The most common name that James is called is a Pedo-Bear'."

"Poor James." Carlos whispered. Logan and Kendall nodded, speechless. "Look at that one." Carlos said pointing to another link. Logan didn't hesitate to click on it.

"_Trial Completed- Diamond Determined Not Guilty_. After a two day long trial, Brian Diamond was claimed to be not guilty by the court. As it turns out, Mackenzie's attacker was actually the assistant coach for one of the teams in Mackenzie's league, George Lee. Lee had blindfolded Mackenzie and taken her to the woods where a friend of his proceeded to videotape the rape. A video of the rape was dropped off by someone anonymous and Diamond was cleared of all charges."

"That's crazy." Kendall said, shaking his head. "I cant believe this all happened to James."

"At least his dad didn't do it." Carlos pointed out.

"Yeah, but James's life was still affected because of it." Logan said. "Look at this article, it's pretty recent. _An Interview With Diamond: The Aftermath of The Life-Changing Events_.

**Has your life returned to normal at all since the incident happened?  
**_'It's been almost three years since I was accused of raping Mackenzie Ryan and at first, my life was total hell. There were constant remarks made about me whenever I entered a room, threats were made to me, people would verbally attack me in public. It wasn't any better for my family. My life Lillian and my son James had to put up with so much and all because of me. Slowly, as time passed, people started to forgive and forget. Sometimes I still think that people will talk about it but it's not as bad as it's been before'_

**And how do you feel about yourself due to all of this?  
**_'Everyday I beat myself up for letting myself get into a situation like this. But what's worse is that I ruined my son's life. Everyday he comes home from school, bruises all over him because some kids at school were beating on him. And when they weren't beating him, they were calling him all sorts of names- Pedo-Bear being the most common. If there was anything I could do to change that, believe me I would'_

"Oh…my…God." the three boys said together.

"I can't read this anymore." Logan said and clicked the tiny x in the corner of the page, shutting down the internet.

"So that's why James was freaking out before." Kendall said as he ran his fingers through his blonde locks.

"But why did he say that we weren't going to want to be his friends?" Carlos asked, confused. "I still wanna be friends with him."

"He's probably used to everyone of his old friends turning on him because they found out what happened." Logan explained. "And he probably expected us to do the same."

"We should talk to him. He needs to know that we're here for him." Kendall declared.

"But what if he doesn't want to talk about it?" Logan pointed out.

"Then we'll make him." Kendall said.

"I don't know Kendall." Carlos said slowly. "James has a wicked temper… kind of like you."

"I don't have a temper!" Kendall cried, and Carlos stared at him with a look of 'you've go to be kidding me'. "Nobody asked you helmet head!" Kendall said, smacking him on the shoulder.

"Ok, ok, calm down you two." Logan said, putting his hands up, blocking Kendall and Carlos from hitting each other. "So what are we going to do?" he asked them.

The boys were silent, thinking.

"I think we should talk to him." Kendall said finally.

"Yeah we should at least try." Carlos added.

Logan nodded. "Ok, lead the way Kendall."

* * *

**A/N: ok, so immediately after I posted chapter one, I started working on this on until about 2am and then I finished it when I got home from work(: it's shorter than the first chapter but it still had important info. I hope you all like it :D and omg I've gotten so much good feedback for this story! My inbox was full of reviews, alerts, and faves just for this story alone and I'm so happy :D I'm glad you all like it :D and special thanks to:**

**KendallSchmidt4Life**

**One Man Writing Games**

**DancingFanatic217**

**DarkPrincess128**

**sasukesmyemo394**

**Magiccatprincess**

**writergirl27**

**For taking the time to review. I love u guys! And chapter three will be here sooner than ASAP (:**


	3. Part III: Acceptance

**A/N: so I'm sorry this took a little longer to be up, but this is the last chapter and I wanted it to be perfect. (and I had some last minute summer work I had to finish lol I start my junior year on Tuesday) Hope u all enjoy (:**

* * *

**Part III: Acceptance**

Music was James's escape in the world. Back in California, whenever his parents would fight he would lock himself in his bedroom and blast music to try to ignore them. At first it would be something that he could relate to, like _Welcome To My Life _or _Drown The City_; and then he would change it to one of his favorite songs to lighten his mood, like _Banana Pancakes_.

Which explained why right now he was locked up in his room, blasting music, trying to forget about all the hurt he went through in just one day. His mom and Bud had come home to see him laying on the couch, sobbing hysterically. They managed to calm him down enough so he could tell them what had happened at hockey practice. But before they could reply, James just went up to his room and locked himself inside. The second he got inside, his music was playing so loud he could've swore the walls were shaking. He was specifically interested in one part.

_**I'm a believer,**_  
_**Nothing could be worse,**_  
_**All these imaginary friends**_

All James wanted more than anything was true friends. He accepted a long time along that his life wasn't going to be anywhere near normal but would it be so bad for him to have friends that would stand by him? 'Of course it would' he argued with himself mentally. _'Who would want to be friends with someone like you? The son of a rapist'_

_'He never raped her though' _he thought, as if he was talking to himself in his head.

_'That didn't change anyone's opinion of you though. As soon as they heard about Brian, they all figured you'd be just like him'_

_'I won't be though'_

_'Are you so sure about that?'_

James groaned loudly and laid face down on his bed. His mood wasn't ready to be lifted so he continued to play the same song over and over again. After the song ended for the hundredth time he had played it, he heard his mom knock on his bedroom door.

"What?" he groaned, his voice muffled due to the fact that his face was pressed into his pillow.

"Your friends are here Jamie." Ms. Diamond said through the door and James sat up in shock. He reached over to shut off his stereo and stared at his door, confusion written all over his face even though nobody could see him.

"What?" he asked, this time out of confusion.

"James, let us in please." Kendall's voice said and James climbed out of his bed. He hesitated slightly before turning the door knob and pulling his door open. Kendall, Carlos, and Logan were standing there, his mom behind them.

"I'll leave you four alone." she said before retreating downstairs.

The four boys stood there awkwardly before James finally said, "Do you wanna come in?"

Logan, Kendall, and Carlos nodded and walked inside James's bedroom, the three of them standing next to each other in front of James's bed. They looked at the tall brunette nervously, deciding on when to start and who should do it, but James beat them to the punch.

"Why are you here?" he asked.

"Well we, uh…" Logan trailed off, looking at Kendall, silently begging him to take over.

"We know." Kendall said softly.

James's jaw twitched slightly when Kendall said those words. There was a heavy silence hanging in the air, and it was filled with nervousness and awkwardness.

"If you know… then why are you here?" James asked softly.

"Because we're you're friends." Carlos said without hesitation. "And we care about you-"

"We just met." James interrupted.

"That doesn't meant anything." Kendall insisted. "Whether you like it or not, we're gonna be stuck with you forever James."

James bit his lip, trying to fight the smile making it's way to his face. But he knew he lost that battle when he saw Logan, Kendall, and Carlos grinning at him.

"At least you're not mad." Carlos said after a moment. "You're not the person I would want to get mad." Logan and Kendall nodded in agreement and James smirked slightly, sitting down on his bed. "Especially after you beat up Jack." Carlos continued. "Boy you can really fight." he paused. "So did you beat up any guys at your old school?"

"Carlos!" Logan and Kendall muttered in unison, hitting their friend in the shoulder.

James chuckled but the smile was fading from his face. "You know." he said softly, looking at his hands twisting in his lap. "I don't like to fight people, as odd as that may seem. But when Jack said all that I just…" he sighed. "I was so angry, and I was scared that you guys were gonna hate me."

James closed his eyes, thinking back to three years ago. "It all started a couple of days after the police let word out about the rape. Mackenzie's brother Matthew was in my class and he was not happy. And he had no problem with telling everybody how much he hated me."

"James, you don't have to-"

James shook his head, stopping Logan from finishing his statement. James sighed before continuing. "At first, it wasn't much. Everyone just talked bad about my dad to me; told me that he was scum…horrible… anything you can think of they probably said it. I would defend him as much as I could but they just wouldn't stop. It went on for a long time. But that wasn't enough for Matthew. He really wanted me to suffer. So then he started attacking me personally. He called me…" James paused, swallowing.

"James, really." Kendall said, touching him on his shoulder. He raised his head to look at him, his eyes filling up with tears. "You don't have to talk about it if you don't want it." Kendall said softly.

James shut his eyes tightly, letting some tears slip down his cheeks. "It's ok. We're friends. I want you to know this."

"Ok." Kendall said softly and patiently waited for James to continue his story. The tall boy took another deep breath and wiped his eyes.

"Ok, so he got everyone to call me a whole bunch of shitty names. But of course the most popular was Pedo-Bear. I never even really understood why they chose to call me that, but they did. And it wasn't just name calling either. Matthew would beat me up every time he could think of a reason too."

"Did you fight back?" Carlos asked.

James shrugged. "Sometimes I would. But most days, if I was feeling bad enough about myself, then I would just let him wail on me. I would come home a lot of the time with split lips, black eyes, bloody clothes… my mom would freak. Then her and my dad would fight because they just knew why I was beaten up, even if I never said anything. I would just go to my room and try to block out their fighting. But anyway, that's beside the point. What I was getting at is that one day, I was so fed up with all the bullshit I was going through, that I just snapped. I came to school, got picked on as usual, but this time I defended my dad as if I was the one in court. They started on the Pedo-Bear crap and I started wailing on Matthew… kind of like I was beating up Jack."

"How did that not make the news?" Carlos asked, shocked.

James chuckled. "It was one of those 'let's pretend it didn't happen' things. We both got so messed up. I made Matthew bleed to the point where he lost consciousness. Which really freaked me out and when I tried to get away, his friends started attacking me. I ended up with a concussion and two broken ribs. Matthew and I were sent to the hospital and because things between our families were so crazy because of the trial, that we all just decided to try and put it behind us. But I'm never gonna forget it… one of the scariest days of my life." James shuddered at the memory. "And because of that day, hospitals freak me out so bad now so if you ever try to bring me to the hospital, I will put up the world's biggest fight."

"Noted." Logan said with a nod.

"Is that the worst things that happened to you?" Kendall asked. His voice was quieter than usual and he was finding it hard to look James in the eye.

James let out a bitter laugh and looked down again. "I wish. After that, and after Matthew was pretty better from my beating, he was even more determined to make my life a living hell. Daily beatings, name calling… it got so bad to the point where I was actually scared to go to school. I would ditch a bunch of days, try and duck out early; whatever got me away from them. But it wasn't enough. They always found me. I ended up in the hospital three more times because I kept getting beat up."

Kendall, Logan, and Carlos were- the least to say- shocked. The three boys had their jaws were dropped slightly and they couldn't get any words to come out.

"What- what happened… after the trial?" Logan finally asked softly.

"It was pretty weird at first. Like, nobody knew what to say to me. But after a few days, my principal brought all of us down to the auditorium, and she went off on this long speech about how the way everyone was treating me was inexcusable and inappropriate. And then she made Matthew make a public apology to me. It was so embarrassing." James paused to roll his eyes. "But he got up to the podium thing and he told me that he was sorry for treating me like shit, and he asked if I could-" James made his voice deeper, as if mocking the boy. "Find it in my heart to forgive him." he rolled his eyes again. "And then everyone just turned and looked at me. They all expected me to say it was ok… but it wasn't. So I just didn't say anything."

"I don't blame you." Kendall said. "I wouldn't forgive a douche bag like that."

James smiled lightly. "Yeah, but unfortunately not everyone took that idea to heart."

Logan's eyes widened. "Did they beat you up for that?"

James nodded silently.

"That's unbelievable!" Logan cried, obviously angered by this.

"Well believe it Logie, 'cause it's true." James said and then sighed again, running his fingers through his hair. "The weird thing is that sometimes I think I deserved it."

His friends stared at him like he just said he wanted to run through the streets in nothing but a mini-skirt.

"You're delirious." Kendall said shaking his head.

James shrugged. "I don't know I mean… maybe if I just accepted Matthew's apology then it would've been easier for me."

"James you shouldn't have to forgive some douche bag who beat you up on a daily basis just because he apologized to you and only half meant it." Logan insisted.

James shrugged again.

"So what happened to you afterwards?" Carlos asked after a moment of silence.

"The usual." James muttered, looking down again. "I got beat up, called names… it wasn't in school through, it was always after school or somewhere where nobody would see it."

"Why did you just take it though?" Carlos continued. "No one should have to go through that."

"I got used to it." James said. He paused for a moment before continuing. "But there is one thing that bothers me more than anything. More then all the teasing and bullying I went through." Kendall, Carlos, and Logan waited in silence for him to tell him. James took a deep breath and rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "B- before me and my mom decided to move my dad and I… we got into a fight. I blamed him for everything that happened to me…and I told him that I hated him. We haven't talked since then and everyday we don't talk I feel like the worst son in the world." Kendall, Logan, and Carlos looked at each other, wondering how to reply but James just kept going on his rant. "I- I don't even know why I said it. I guess I was just so angry at him, and I blamed him even though I shouldn't have. And I want to take it back but I can't, and I'm afraid that he hates me now…"

Kendall sighed. "James, it's not your fault. You were mad, and you dad knows that you love him."

"Does he though?" James looked into Kendall's green irises and held the blonde boy's gaze as he spoke and for the second time, Kendall saw James's hazel eyes fill up with tears. "Because I'm pretty sure if my son told me that he hated me I would fail to see the love in that." his voice cracked at the last few words and after he said that James covered his face with his hands, resting his elbows on his knees. The room was silent for a few moments as the boys watched James's shoulders shake with silent sobs.

Wordlessly, Logan walked over to James's bed and sat down next to him. He gently removed his hands from his face and turned his head so he was looking at him.

"My dad is the total definition of a workaholic." he started softly. "He was never around when I needed him and most days I didn't even see him. So basically it was me and my mom most of the time. And on top of that, my dad was a liar. Whenever he promised me he would be there, or he would come home from work early just to see me… he never did." Logan paused and took a deep breath. "When I was thirteen, we had a school assignment; write an essay about one person you admire. And I chose my dad. Crazy, I know. How could you admire someone you barely even see? But nevertheless, I chose my dad, and my teacher thought it was so good that she suggested I read it at our school's open house. My dad promised me that he would be there and like a fool I believed him."

"He didn't show up?" James asked in a small voice.

Logan shook his head 'no'. "And when my mom and I got home that night, I called him up at work, told him I hated him, and hung up the phone. We didn't talk for almost two weeks after that."

"So what happened?" James asked.

"My dad called me one night when he was at work. He told me goodnight and that he loved me. That was something he hadn't done for me in years, and I knew that, if he could still tell me that after I told him I hated him, he loved me, and he knew I still loved him."

Kendall stepped up this time. "Remember how I told you my dad died six years ago?" James nodded and Kendall sat on the other side of him. "Well, right before he died, I had a hockey game. It was my first hockey game ever and the coach picked me to play center- my dream position. And there were three other kids up for the position and the fact that he picked me meant the world to me. But when I got to the game and I realized that my dad didn't show up, I was so mad at him. My mom tried to calm me down but all I could say was that I hated him. About halfway into my game, my mom and I get a call saying that my dad was in a car accident." Kendall paused, running his shaky fingers through his hair. "My first thought was that it was my fault that it happened to him."

"But he didn't ear you say it." James said.

"Yeah, I know but I still… I knew I had said it and I still blamed myself." Kendall replied.

"So what happened when you got to the hospital?" James asked.

"I ran into his room and told him I was sorry. He didn't know what for and he couldn't say much to begin with but I could make out him saying I love you, over and over again until he died."

"I told my dad I hated him when he ran my helmet over one time." Carlos said, sitting down in a swivel chair and wheeling it in front of James. The tall boy cracked a small smile, biting his lip trying to stop it. "It was a total accident though." Carlos continued. "But it was my favorite helmet. I even decorated it. But one day I left it sitting in our driveway and when my dad came home from work, he totally destroyed it. So I told him I hated him and locked myself in my room all day. Then, right before I went to bed, my dad came in with a brand new helmet. I apologized and he told me he knew I didn't mean it. I know that's not as dramatic as these two-" Logan and Kendall rolled their eyes. "But it's still the same thing. And what we're trying to say is that your dad knows you love him and even though you told him you hated him and you haven't talked to him in who knows how long, he still knows you love him."

James smiled slightly. "You think so?"

"We know so." Kendall said, throwing his arm around James's shoulder.

"Thanks you guys." James said quietly.

"And if anyone tries to bully you again, just take it up with Kendall." Logan added. "Carlos and I got picked on a hell of a lot and Kendall was always stood up for us."

"He got suspended once for beating up a whole group of kids in our gym class." Carlos added proudly.

"It was only three." Kendall said modestly. "And they were totally asking for it."

James chuckled. "You guys are the best." he said and threw his arm around Kendall and Logan's shoulders, pulling him into a hug. He latched his foot around the chair Carlos was sitting in and jerked it forward so the Latino boy fell into their group hug, knocking the four boys backwards onto James's bed.

For the first time in three years, James Diamond knew what it felt like to have true friends… and he knew what it felt like to be happy. And he wasn't going to trade these feelings for anything in the whole world.

* * *

**A/N: Anddddddd that's all folks! :D Yup, Reputation has come to a complete end. I'm sad to see it end but I'm so happy that you all like it so much. Again, I'm sorry it took so long for this chapter to get up but I wanted it to be perfect for you guys and after a couple days of editing and typing, I finally have it completed. So tell me what did you think? Hopefully you didn't think the end was too corny :p lol but yeah, all the feedback is greatly appreciated!**

**Special thanks to:**

**unnaturalstories**

**Magiccatprincess**

**DarkPrincess128**

**DancingFanatic217**

**writergirl217**

**So-Bored-With-These-Games**

**skb.0104**

**StillLovely**

**KendallSchmidt4Life**

**For taking the time to review chapter two, and thanks again to all those who reviewed chapter one. I love you guys! And I hope you all liked this story :D**

**-Courtney (fall into your sunlight)**

**PS: Disclaimer: Welcome To My Life, belongs to Simple Plan; Drown The City, by A Skylit Drive; Banana Pancakes, belong to Jack Johnson; and Evil Angel, belongs to Breaking Benjamin**


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